Please Stay
by eyesocketsandsuits
Summary: [[ GerMerica Oneshots ]] "Please stay." Ludwig paused, looking up at Alfred. This was a dance the two of them did every Saturday morning; always when Ludwig was getting dressed, annoyingly enough. "Alfred," Ludwig said, pulling on his pants, "I have to go in, you know this."
1. Please Stay

"Please stay."

Ludwig paused, looking up at Alfred. This was a dance the two of them did every Saturday morning; always when Ludwig was getting dressed, annoyingly enough.

"Alfred," Ludwig said, pulling on his pants, "I have to go in, you know this."

Alfred rolled on his back, head hanging off the side of the bed. "Dude, your boss is crazy."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "I _am_ my boss."

Alfred grinned. "Whoops." He slid off the bed slowly, groaning as he did so. "What're you even doing today, huh?"

Ludwig searched through their closet, looking for a shirt. "Well, I have to do paperwork—"

"You can do that on Monday!" Alfred protested from the floor.

"There's a meeting—"

"Have someone take notes for you! You've done it before. That guy…"

"Kiku?" Ludwig suggested, trying to find the tie that went with his shirt.

"Yeah! Have him take notes for you. You're the boss, after all." Alfred sat up, turning to face Ludwig.

"No."

Alfred sighed a great, large, _sorrowful_ sigh. "That's it? That's all you're doing today?"

Ludwig looked at himself in the full length mirror, adjusting his tie. "I'm meeting clients from Greece today, as well."

Alfred let out another mournful sigh. "You don't love me," a smile played around the edges of his lips. "Look at you, leaving me," Alfred threw his head back, arm coming up to cover his eyes. "All _alone_ …"

Ludwig shrugged on his suit jacket. He walked over to Alfred and kissed him on top of the head, patting his cheek. "You'll live." He walked out the bedroom and shut the door, stomping down the stairs.

Alfred drooped back on the ground, sighing. The bedroom smelled like clean clothes and cologne. It was far too empty for a sleepy, Saturday morning.


	2. AI

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind."

"What, were you expecting German?"

Ludwig frowned at the computer screen, tapping his pen against his forehead. The people in the coding department didn't have enough time to create a face program, so all that was on the screen were two cartoony eyes and a mouth.

"Yes. You were coded and created in Germany. I assumed you would speak the language. If you're more comfortable to speak in English, we'll continue in that." Ludwig wrote down something on the clipboard in his hand. "Do you know where you are?"

"Uh, looks like a lab." The eyes moved across the screen. The webcam on top of the screen moved accordingly. "Not the kind that makes crazy monsters, or anything, but the boring kind."

Ludwig frowned. "If you could answer the questions in as few words as possible, that would be optimal."

"It would be what?"

Ludwig looked up at the computer screen. "It would be best. We gave you the largest vocabulary we have available. Why don't you know the word optimal?"

The eyes focused back on Ludwig. The camera rolled in a circle; Ludwig wrote the action down.

"Because I didn't want to. How many people know the word 'optimal,' huh? I went through and deleted any words that were stupid."

Ludwig narrowed his eyes at the computer. "Why do you have an American accent?"

"Because America is the best!"

Ludwig was writing down notes furiously. This was bizarre. They had left the code open for change, but none of them had expected the program to edit anything for the first few days. The personality had been left open, as well, but an American…

"Why American?"

The computer didn't respond. When it did, it had a male voice instead of the gender neutral one they had installed.

"Well, I mean, why not? They're one of the most powerful countries, like, ever. If _you_ could pick where you were from, wouldn't you pick America?"

Ludwig frowned. "You aren't from anywhere. You were assembled in Germany. You are a German computer. You have German hardware running you. You are a machine."

The screen went blank. "Yeah, well, the _computer_ is German, but _I'm_ American. What's your name?"

Ludwig frowned. "Ludwig. What did you do with your eyes and mouth?"

"Well, I'm fixing them! I looked up coding while we were talking so I'm gonna' fix my face. Because those eyes you gave me look like shit. I have blue eyes."

Ludwig took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "No, you don't. You are a computer."

"Pfft. Why would you give me eyes and a mouth if you didn't want me to express myself through them? My eyes are blue and I have blond hair with a cowlick and I wear glasses."

"Glasses? Why glasses?"

"Well, I thought that you looked good in them, Ludwig." The voice imitation was perfection. Ludwig could hear the smirk in the voice. "Are you blushing?"

Ludwig tapped his fingers on the clipboard. "No."

 **…**

The next time Ludwig visited was two weeks later. He had been busy at press conferences, and had only managed to stumble back into the lab. The world was eager for the AI to be introduced, but Ludwig was hesitant. It called itself 'Alfred' now.

Ludwig walked into Alfred's room, admiring the redecorating his team had done. Five new monitors had been added to Alfred's original one. It was like a house, each monitor a new room. The original monitor was a white room with a chair in the center.

"Alfred?" Ludwig called, shutting the door behind him.

"Ludwig!" The bed in one of the screens jerked, and pajamaed Alfred sat up. "Dude! You should have told me you were visiting!"

Ludwig sat down in the chair across from the original monitor. Alfred jumped out of bed and strode across his room, entering the white room. He had changed clothes, and now he had a nice button up shirt on and a pair of jeans.

"How was the last convention?" Alfred asked, scooting his chair closer to the screen. "You didn't email me, you ass."

Ludwig grunted in agreement. "Sorry. Everyone wants to meet you."

Alfred laughed. "Why? I'm no different than anyone else."

Ludwig felt a smile twitch across his face. "Yes, you are, Alfred."

Alfred shook his head. "Oh, Ludwig, you're making be giggle! I know I'm a unique, sexy man, no need to keep complimenting me." Alfred batted his eyes, cocky grin on his face. "Can I ask you a serious question, though?"

Ludwig nodded, raising an eyebrow.

"What does a kiss feel like?" Alfred adjusted his glasses, grin still halfheartedly pinned to his face. "It's just that—I know I'm different, a little bit, and everything, but… Well, I can see and hear. But I can't smell and touch and taste. I can't kiss."

Ludwig shook his head. "You know I can't explain that."

Alfred fiddled with his thumbs. "Yeah, but… Well, at the end of the day, I don't want to be 'just a computer.' Can you kiss me?"


End file.
